About

The Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM) is an institute of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) (Spanish National Research Council) founded in December 1986, that belongs to the Area of Science and Technology of Materials, one of the eight Areas in which the CSIC divides its research activities.

Our mission is to create new fundamental and applied knowledge in materials of high technological impact, their processing and their transfer to the productive sectors at local, national and European scales (the true value of materials is in their use), the training of new professionals, and the dissemination of the scientific knowledge.

Advanced scanning probe lithography

Ricardo Garcia et al

The nanoscale control afforded by scanning probe microscopes has prompted the development of a wide variety of scanning-probe-based patterning methods. Some of these methods have demonstrated a high degree of robustness and patterning capabilities that are unmatched by other lithographic techniques. However, the limited throughput of scanning probe lithography has prevented its exploitation in technological applications. Here, we review the fundamentals of scanning probe lithography and its use in materials science and nanotechnology. We focus on robust methods, such as those based on thermal effects, chemical reactions and voltage-induced processes, that demonstrate a potential for applications.